Don’t risk the fine…

Kevin Rudd opened his federal election campaign for the Labor party with the opinion polls telling us that the Liberals and Tony Abbott would win in a landslide. As the campaign continues, the pendulum swings; opinion polls close the gap between the two parties.

Would nominating a particular date that Australia goes to the polls, make a difference to which way the pendulum swings?

Can the planets bring the right sort of tension into play to determine whether one candidate is likely to gain favour with the voting public any more than another candidate; enough to change the possible outcome?

Election day 7th September, 2013 is marked on the calendar for all Australians, 18 years and older – voting is compulsory down under.

Not that the penalty is worth chasing up; $20 is hardly going to break the bank for most of us, if we decide not to vote. Aussies seem to enjoy the social duty and civil engagement, with the vast majority turning up at the booths like good little vegemites.

With a two-party preferential system in Australia, the fuss is about one of the two main parties winning the majority of seats in the House of Representatives and ruling the federal parliament for the next three years. The Half-Senate vote is up as usual, however we won’t be on their case today.

Note: If you want a more detailed enquiry of candidates, check the menu above; Election 2013.

Basically, on the House of Reps. voting card, apart from the candidates for the two parties; Labor and Liberal, we are asked to list our preferences if our first choice weren’t to pass the post first; nominating a second preference to represent us. So, if everybody’s first choice doesn’t add up to one person getting “50% plus one” of the overall vote in a division, then the preferences have to be counted and allocated to whomever; the person with the highest number overall, wins.

It is worth noting that if we don’t mark the card with our preference choice, then our second choice is determined by the party line. It is up to us, folks.

You may well ask why I’m focussed on the preferential voting system; well from the charts I have generated for this election (see the individual states under election in the menu above), Neptune’s making more than just a random appearance and appears to be influencing matters considerably; creating tension in many of the bi-wheels.

For those who aren’t familiar with our FA toolkit, Neptune represents the hidden aspect to things; meaning that caution is needed. Following those considerations, I therefore suggest that the hidden vote; the preferences, are likely to determine the outcome in many of the marginal seats.

That aside, let’s view the charts through a political lens; ask the heavens about this particular date and I’m sure we can discover more if we generate a bi-wheel with the nation’s chart. So what’s in the atmosphere after the sausage sizzles and airing of strong opinions?

In Australia we generate our political astrology charts at the closing of the polls in the nation’s capital, Canberra; a planetary snapshot in the ACT at 6pm AEST.

click on all charts for full size

First up, the constellation Ophiuchus is immediately overhead.

For those of an esoteric bent, Robson’s comment is that this constellation portends a passionate, blindly good-hearted, wasteful and easily seduced nature, unseen dangers, enmity and slander ahead (10th house).

Pliny said that it occasioned much mortality by poisoning.

The Kabbalists associate Orphiuchus with the Hebrew letter Oin

Tarot followers, the 16th Trump The Lightning Struck Tower.

For an astrologer, the midheaven 16°Sagittarius is at the cusp of the 10th house, the future career for a lot of weary candidates who are to return to their mundane lives or take a seat in the future parliament of the nation; to serve their constituents.

The 16th degree according to the Serbian astrologer, indicates a nation’s people. We know that Jupiter is the ruler of Sagittarius, so there is bound to be a lot of opinions by the nation’s people.

I’d put my hand up here and comment that we couldn’t have created a more appropriate mid-heaven, given a protractor and compass.

Highlighted at the descendant (right hand side of the horizon line) we can see the Sun-Mercury-Moon; the planets we would want to see at the end of the day. The Sun is in the 6th house of everyday affairs, while Mercury and the Moon are in the 7th house of public relationships. The planet Mercury (communication) placed between the Sun (wants) and Moon (needs) – at the setting of the sun,our wants and needs communicated.

For those who need to know, Mundane Astrology is slightly different from what we are familiar with on this FA blog; different in so much as the planets have meanings with a political bent. Murder is still on many minds, however it is a case of symbolic slaughter rather than literal, we would hope.

In particular, the Sun represents the party in power, on this occasion the ALP. That makes sense as it is the leader of the ALP who announced the date that the election would be held; his party’s prerogative.

The Moon meanwhile, signifies the people of the nation and popular opinion; another way of describing our needs.

Other planets of significance to us are Saturn –the conservative side of society as well as good old father time indicating where there is ‘the devil to pay’ on this day. On this date in September, Saturn is conjunct the Lunar north node (on the public agenda) and in the 8th house of transformation. This would be interpreted as karmic, by some. I hear this as another warning to be careful what you wish for, on your voting card.

Neptune signifies socialist movements and if afflicted by tension aspect – political distortion or instability. This could also be the hidden aspect of second preferences. Pluto signifies herd mentality (a safe seat) as well as the power of the masses.

There is a point I need to address here for astrologers while we are in the realm of the planets and that is to do with the position of Venus in the election day chart.

We know that Venus can appear in the sky as the last light to fade with Dawn – the Morning Star and when it is the first bright star after the Sun sets, we call it the Evening Star. Well it can appear as one or the other in a chart of the heavens but obviously not as both. So we check which side of the Sun it is on, whether it rises over the horizon before the Sun or not in order to nominate either ‘morning’ or ’evening’ on a certain date.

The planet Venus is positioned in the chart as the ‘evening star’ on 7th September, 2013 – it rises after the Sun.

An expat astrologer has writ large about this position in the election charts of nations other than ours… when Venus is positioned in the heavens as the ‘evening star’ it portends a change of a ruling party.

I wish to comment here that following my research, this rule of thumb does not necessarily apply in Australia. Over the last forty years of Australian federal elections, three times this prediction has been correct and twice, not. That is not to say that it will not be correct on this occasion, I merely make comment that for Australia, it is not the be-all and end-all predictor.

I wish it were a reliable indicator, then I could check where Venus orbits in the heavens on voting day and make a motza at the tote…

As to the houses in the chart, if there are houses empty of planets, we need to consider the cusp of that house. For example, in the chart above and all charts for bi-wheels generated for this federal election:

House 2 (the economy) The cusp is in the zodiac sign of Aries and so we must consider that anything in the second house has Mars energy (take action).

House 11 (the Senate, public service, organisations) – Capricorn is ruled by Saturn (authority/conservative over socialist).

Where this knowledge will really bear fruit would be checking a candidate’s bi-wheel for election day. It would likely reveal trends within a particular division and/or a state and territory, but that is not for us to discuss today. So what has Australia as a nation got to add to the story?

We generate a bi-wheel (method) from the perspective of the closing of the polls (the inner wheel) and the nations birth chart on the outer wheel. This is what we, as a nation can expect during this campaign and election process.

click on image for full size

Immediately we see that Pluto is at the bottom of the bi-wheel; the power of the masses holds the balance of this orb reminding us that we, not the parties hold the balance of power. Our vote counts.

With Pluto at the cusp of the 4th house, we are also reminded that we have to live with the result, whether we like it or not.

Sun in the inner wheel (orange) the date on the calendar is in tension/ squarePluto (people’s vote) as well as conjunct the nation’s Mars (action) in the 6th house (nation’s workers).

Note: the Australian Labor Party (ALP) membership was influenced very much by trade unions; promoting itself as a party representing the ‘working classes’ and so the 6th house would certainly be a choice of platform (house in a chart) for the ALP.

The Sun appearing in the 6th house as it does on this date therefore greatly benefits the ALP cause more so than any other planet in the chart; the Sun is the centre of our solar system.

Transiting Mercury (yellow) represents communication mattersand transportation is square Neptune (turquoise) – distorted information about issues at home are bound to be spread pretty thick during this campaign.

Transiting Mercury is also square Jupiter (green)-Mercury (yellow) in the 10th house – Jupiter inflates what it touches so expect lots of porky pies about the future; promises, promises.

Transiting Moon in the heavens (blue) indicates public opinion is likely to be swayed in the nation’s realm of Saturn (red in the outer wheel) – scarcities, calamities, scaremongering.

Australia’s Sun is close to Saturn with Pluto orbiting between the two suggesting the conservative path will likely overcome this potential threats, however the susceptibility to scaremongering is present.

Transiting Uranus (red) portends sudden changes creating tension with this Sun-Saturn-Pluto phenomenon. The pendulum of public opinion will swing during the campaign.

When we progress Australia’s chart to the present-day by solar arc progression (method), our maturity as a nation reveals itself under the same stars. The angle, cusp of the 7th house of public relationships leads the way:

Descendant=Moon/South Node – strengthen international relationships, war and peace issues; eg bring the troops home. Make a stand as an individual voice.

6th house transiting Sun (orange) conjunct the nation’s progressed Moon – the leader needs to listen to the common man’s voice not just his advisors.

7th house transiting Moon (blue) conjunct progressed Pluto and opposite Uranus in the 1st house. Create an ongoing open dialogue with the people about alternative futures for Australia’s place in the world – parliamentary changes; a republic etc. Be open to the possibilities for change. Aspire to lead in technological advances.

Transiting 10th house Pluto square 7th house Pluto – more of the last comment with this being the empowering aspect of the dialogue.

May the people’s choice empower the nation to embrace that karmic South Node (loss to an incumbent) at the Descendant/cusp of the 7th house.